Kingdom Hearts: Nobody's Promise
by KH Duelist
Summary: A few years after KH2, a new trio appear. Their goal: to recover a Heart, and a lost name. Characters: X, the Nobody who lost his true name; Valerie, his best friend prior to becoming Nobody; and Reno, a lovable redhead. Minor cursing.
1. Chapter 1

**Kingdom Hearts:**

**Nobody's Promise**

_**Chapter 1**_

Gasping for air, struggling not to trip as they ran, Reno and Rude rushed to try and escape the oncoming stampede of dark creatures chasing after them. How long they'd been running, they could not tell, but they knew if something didn't happen soon, it would be all over for them.

Reno's long red hair, normally tied in a ponytail down to his lower back, was flying loose in the wind, seemingly due to a strike from the creatures following him, cutting his hair band. Though he was thin, muscular, and an expert at using an electro-mag rod in combat, it seemed he was more concerned with getting out of their current situation than fighting to the death. Rude – taller, slightly more muscular, bald, and always wearing shades – shared the emotion, but it seemed hopeless. They were almost out of breath, out of strength, and – from the looks of the cliff up ahead – out of luck.

Once they reached the edge, they looked over the side, where a several hundred foot drop greeted their eyes. They looked at each other, then back at the stampede following them, then down at the ground, both cursing under their breath.

"Well, Rude," Reno said, pulling out his mag rod, "I guess we really don't have alotta choice now, eh?"

Rude, quiet as usual, simply grunted, nodded and prepared himself for a battle he was sure he'd never forget – or survive.

As the creatures came closer, they began to slow down, knowing they had won. They thought to themselves how irritating it had been chasing these two down for their measly Hearts, but soon it would all be over.

"Reno," Rude said as they came to a stop before them.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted you to know, it's been…fun, partnering around with you."

"Same here, buddy. Can't believe it's gonna end like this."

"Yeah…becoming one of THEM…"

As they tensed up for battle, the scene seemed to last for an eternity – on one side, a pair of gentlemen who had fought countless battles at each other's side; on the other, a seething horde of Heartless, many shapes and sizes, anticipating the capture of more Hearts. Reno was seeing parts of his life flash before his eyes – when he was first hired to work for Shinra; becoming head of the Turks; the constant breaking of Rude's cheap sunglasses over the years. Rude, too, began to see his life flash before his eyes – Reno's hair always getting in his way when he tries to throw a punch; Reno always snatching money from his wallet when all he'd have to do is ask for a loan; replacing over $1,000 worth of cheap sunglasses because Reno's clumsy ass always broke them. Rude rolled his eyes at these events, but he knew one thing – no matter what happened, Reno was always there when Rude was in trouble. And now, they were going out with a bang.

The next few seconds flashed by so fast, Reno and Rude weren't sure exactly what had happened – the Heartless leapt at them; they drew back their fists, ready to strike; the next thing they know, the entire front line of the Heartless horde vanishes with a slash from out of nowhere.

"Geez, V. You could have at least found some Level 6's among this group," came a voice from behind. Reno and Rude turned around to look at the edge of the cliff, and saw two strangers standing there.

The one called "V" was a female. She stood about as high as Reno, with shoulder-length blonde hair, brilliant green eyes, a unique semi-revealing light blue outfit, and what looked to be a Wizard's fighting staff of some sort in her left hand that stood almost as tall as her. She appeared to be around the age of eighteen, and had a rather attractive smirk on her face.

The other figure was a man, but far less colorful. He wore a long black robe with the hood down, revealing his face to Reno and Rude. His brown hair was spiked as though made of shark fins. His dark brown eyes showed no emotion. His face was in a frown, apparently disappointed that the Heartless were so easily annihilated by his weird weapon he shouldered on the right side – it was as long as a sword, and looked just as sharp, but strangely, it resembled a key.

"Sorry, X, but these two guys were in trouble, and Level 6's or not, you promised to help someone out if I said so," V said, looking up to X, who was a head taller than her. Her mischievous grin never leaving her face. "And from what I see of these two—"she pointed her staff at Reno and Rude "—they're gonna need ALL the help they can get."

X smirked, bringing his weapon in front of him, pointing it at the Heartless. "Alright, if you insist. I suggest you two stand out of my way – this won't be pretty."

Reno and Rude looked at each other, then quickly leapt to either side giving him plenty of space. X didn't waste any time, and immediately sprung forward, his weapon pointed, into the enemy center.

"Cursed Heartless – FINAL DESTINY!!" he roared, his weapon glowing a bright white as he sped towards the remainder of the Heartless. Though there were dozens of them versus only one of him, the Heartless seemed to take a step back in fear as he sped towards them – and with good reason. When he swung his weapon at them, an enormous energy flowed out of it, enveloping the Heartless in a white light. One by one, they evaporated, destroyed by the overwhelming energies flowing from the strange blade. When the light subsided, neither Reno nor Rude saw a single dark form left.

X reached over to his right shoulder, massaging it and rolling it around. "Bah…I've had a tougher time opening a jar of pickles." He then looked over to Reno and Rude. "Hey, you guys alright?"

Reno and Rude, eyes wide from the event they just witnessed, could only nod.

"Good." X looked at V. "Hey, it's getting late. We need to get to town and find somewhere to stay."

"Sure!" V said with glee, happily running over to join his side.

As they walked away, Reno finally found his voice again. "H-Hey!" He called out, making them turn around. "What the hell is that—" he pointed to the strange key "—and who the hell are you two?" he pointed at them.

X smirked, turning around to face him. "Heh…not much on tact, are ya, redhead?"

V tugged X's arm. "Oh, calm down, he doesn't mean anything by it." she then looked at Reno and Rude. "I'm Valerie, but you can call me V. That—" she said, pointing to the weapon "—is a Keyblade. And this—"

"Name's X," he said, cutting her off. "And I'm just a Nobody."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

"So, this is Radiant Garden?" X inquired, his Keyblade once again on his shoulder.

"Yup," Valerie replied. "So how long do you plan to stay this time?"

"Meh…maybe a few days. Even I could use a rest now. I think that was my last Final Destiny for awhile."

Valerie looked at him, frowning slightly. "Yeah, don't you think you overdid it back there? You could have easily taken out all those Heartless without using it, the strongest was a pair of Level 4's in the back."

"Didn't feel like wasting my time dragging out a meaningless fight," was his simple reply. He then looked at her, too. "I mean, c'mon, we haven't seen anything higher than a Level 6 for weeks. They're probably dwindling in numbers thanks to me."

"Us," Valerie corrected. "I carry my own weight, too, you know."

X scratched the back of his head. "Right, apologies. Being without emotion tends to give one a sense of pride sometimes."

Valerie's smile returned. "I know, it's fine. Once you're back to normal, that shouldn't be an issue anymore, right?"

X was silent after that. Valerie took the hint and dropped the subject. Though X was without a Heart, and thus without emotions, it still seemed to rub him the wrong way to mention the fact that he was a Nobody. _She doesn't mean anything by it_, he thought to himself. _She's just trying to help. And besides, you _did _promise her_.

Unbeknownst to them, X and Valerie were being followed – Reno and Rude decided to learn more about these strange visitors, and about this Keyblade and why it was so effective against the Heartless.

"Reno, are you sure that guy won't just kill us if he finds us?" Rude inquired.

"Nope, which is why he isn't going to find us," came his answer. Reno, hair now tied back to normal, was wearing his typical smirk. Being as young as he is, it's only natural for someone like Reno to be rather cocky and playful by attitude, but his strength and skill with his electro-mag rod gave him fair grounds to be that way.

As the two of them sneaked along, they overheard X say something about scanning the town for more Heartless, which made Reno and Rude look at each other.

"Rude, do you think there are more of those bastards back home?"

Rude was silent, but it was enough of an answer for Reno.

"Damnit. So Aerith and the others could be in a bit of trouble." He looked at Rude. "Hey, this guy seems to hate the Heartless, too. Maybe we can ask him for help? He did save our hind ends back there."

Again, Rude was silent. He never was a man of many words. But Reno took it upon himself to answer his own questions just by Rude's reactions, and from how Rude seemed to ignore the question, he took it that was Rude's personal way of saying, "No."

Reno shrugged. "Well, you might not like it, but I still think he could be a big help, even if he is a Nobody." Then, before Rude could stop him, Reno jumped out onto the path behind X and Valerie. "HEEEEEEEEY!" he hollered at them.

X turned around, positioned his Keyblade, ready to strike. But when he saw it was the redhead he helped earlier, he lowered his guard – someone this pathetic can't possibly be a threat.

"Oh, hello again!" Valerie exclaimed excitedly. She always did think anyone that still had a Heart was worthy of calling a friend, even if they're complete strangers.

X however wasn't so gleeful. "Why are you following us, redhead?"

"First," Reno replied, "this 'redhead' has a name, sir." He walked up and extended his hand to X for a handshake. "I'm Reno, and my friend back there—" he nodded his head backwards in Rude's direction "—is Rude."

"He's the Rude one?" X replied with a smirk.

"I mean his name, smart-ass," Reno replied, dropping his extended hand. "We're co-leaders of the Turks, the defensive organization of this district of Radiant Garden."

"With fighting skills like yours, they must not be highly useful," X said. When it came to strangers, he loved to provoke them however he could find.

"X, cut it out!" Valerie finally spoke up, cutting Reno off before he could reply in a way that would get X to strike back. "He's probably here to thank us for helping him a few minutes ago."

"Well, actually, that's ONE thing we wanted to do," Reno said, motioning towards Rude to emphasize he was included in that statement. As Rude finally decided to come out and walk up to the group, Reno continued. "We were also wanting to ask your assistance again, if you could. Those Heartless—"

"Are none of my interest," X said, shouldering his blade again. "We're not out to fight the Heartless, we're busy searching for something that belongs to me."

"That's fine, but can you at least hear me out?" Reno asked as politely as he could.

X grunted, but awaited Reno's request.

"The Heartless seem to have grown out of control in this sector. That stampede back there, that was only a fraction of what we think is waiting for us back home. Our friends could be in danger, and we could really use your help."

X sighed, rolling his eyes. "So much for a bit of rest. If Heartless really are in mass at the town, they're sure to find us." He looked at Valerie, who nodded in return. Then he looked back at Reno. "Fine. We'll get rid of whatever Heartless happen to come along. But don't think this is charity work – I'm simply doing this for her."

Reno smiled. "Hey, I don't care if you're doing it for the helluvit, as long as they're gone and the town is safe again." He extended his hand out again. "Thanks, X."

X hesitated, but then decided to go through with the handshake. He gripped Reno's hand tightly, making Reno flinch. "Just one thing – stay out of my way."

Reno, recovering from the handshake, looked on as X and Valerie walked away towards the town. "Well, that was a pleasant person," he mumbled, but at least he got what he wanted – some time to get to know the strangers, and hope for the town.

* * * * *

"FIRE!" Aerith yelled, as she cast the Fire Spell at the Large Body Heartless in front of her. The flames made the Large Body teeter in place for a moment, blinded by the flames, as Aerith went around its back for its weak point. She then held up her hands for another Spell. "Blizzard!" she aimed directly at the center of the Large Body's back, and the Spell hit dead-on, causing the Large Body to fall onto its front. Before it could get up, Leon leapt and plummeted his sword into the Heartless's exposed back. The Large Body groaned, then vanished.

"One down," he stated, as they turned to the second one behind them. Enraged at the fall of his comrade, this Large Body beat on his stomach and began to glow an eerie purple.

"Look out, he's charging!" Aerith said as the Large Body rushed forward, and they leapt out of the way just in time – the Large Body's iron-like stomach completely smashed the brick wall behind where they stood.

Before the Large Body could turn around, a large shuriken came out of nowhere and stuck right into its back. The Large Body roared in pain. Before it knew what was happening, the shuriken unleashed an energy wave, exploding and taking out the Heartless.

As the blast sent the shuriken flying, Yuffie leapt from the rooftop and grabbed it in midair, flipped and landed between Leon and Aerith.

Yuffie wiped her short brown hair out of her face. "Your welcome." She grinned, placing her shuriken into its holster on her back. Her headband strands flowed gently in the wind. Her mini-jean skirt and her almost too small, light blue shirt looked untouched from the fight they just had with the Heartless.

"Thank you, Yuffie," Aerith grinned at her, her long auburn hair slightly messy from the battle. Her long pink dress was also slightly tattered from attacks by Shadows.

"Show off." Leon shrugged, as he put his Lionheart sword back into its sheath. Standing a head taller than both of the girls, Leon looked a little exhausted from the fight. He brushed his dark brown hair and sweat out from his eyes. His dark blue jacket and white undershirt were both ripped in random places from attacks, and one leg from his jeans was ripped clean off. It was certain he'd done more to defend the girls in the fight than anything.

"Maybe we should get inside before more show up," Aerith suggested. The other two agreed, and they quickly went into Aerith's house. Surrounded by a special barrier Aerith herself conjured, it was specially designed to keep Heartless at bay.

Once they got in, Aerith poured some tea for everyone, and as they all sat down at the table to drink, they began to discuss the events of the day.

"Three Heartless attacks so far, and it's only the afternoon," Leon sighed into his cup. After taking a long sip, he placed the remainder of his tea back on the table. "This isn't good – the Heartless are clearly multiplying more each day. It's only a matter of time before Radiant Garden becomes Hollow Bastion all over again."

"We won't allow that to happen!" Yuffie exclaimed, almost slamming her tea cup on the table. Easily over excitable, Yuffie was well known (and often ignored) for her outlandish reactions to even the simplest of statements.

"Yuffie is correct," Aerith said simply, taking a sip of her own tea. The calmness in her voice seemed to affect Yuffie, and she sat back down to drink a bit more. Aerith continued, "We are still keeping this area safe. Tron is working on the defense grid as we speak, and empowering it to work better against the Heartless. The only reason we were hit by so many attacks today is because there was a slight malfunction."

"Yeah, but it almost got us taken," Leon replied. "I don't mean to dampen your statements, Aerith, but let's face it – they are getting stronger, and one false move means we end up joining them."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to make sure we don't make any false moves," Aerith replied with a sweet smile. Leon sat back, smirking. _She never was one to crack under pressure_, he thought to himself.

As they finished their tea, there was a knock at the door. Aerith, Yuffie and Leon all looked at each other.

"Were either of you expecting company?" Aerith asked. They both shook their heads. Aerith then looked towards the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Reno and Rude!" came the reply from their favorite redhead knucklehead.

"Come on in, it's open," she said.

"Before we do, we should warn you, we have other company," Reno replied. "Make sure Leon doesn't attack him."

Leon was puzzled, but figured out what Reno meant when he opened the door – the company was a strange girl, and a Nobody.

"Reno, what the hell are you doing bringing a Nobody in here?!" Leon exclaimed, quickly unsheathing Lionheart and lunging towards the door.

As he went to slash at X, before anyone else could react, X quickly countered with his Keyblade, holding Leon's sword off. "Well, if you must know," X began, "it's because I'm not just any Nobody. I'm a Keyblade wielder, too. And possibly the only chance you've got against the Heartless."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3**_

Around an hour after the confrontation, Leon and the others decided X and Valerie are of no threat to them. Leon still cut his eyes at X from time to time as they all got to know one another, but the tension was normal for X – he was used to the reactions from those who still had Hearts.

"So, you're not like the Nobodies from the Organization from back then?" Aerith inquired.

"Never heard of any Organization," X answered, "but if they were your enemies, I think it's safe to say I'm not on their side."

"Besides, Sora did away with the Organization three years ago," Yuffie chimed in. She was sitting beside of Valerie as the two shared some cookies Aerith had made while X and Valerie settled in. Valerie pushed the plate in X's direction, but he declined the offer with a wave of his hand.

"Sora?" X asked curiously.

"He's another Keyblade wielder," Leon answered. "He went after the Heartless when his best friends Kairi and Riku were kidnapped. Ended up fighting off Nobodies as well, and some damn tough ones." Leon took a seat as he continued his explanation. "Organization XIII was a collective of the toughest Nobodies in existence at the time. Even Sora's Nobody, Roxas, was among them, though not very long."

"Wait, this Sora kid had a Nobody?" X responded, more alert at this interesting piece of information.

"Yeah. From what I recall of it, Kairi had lost her heart, but as she had no darkness within her, she didn't become Heartless. Sora replaced her Heart with his own, thus making him a Heartless, and his empty shell became Roxas. However, he wasn't Heartless for long – somehow Kairi brought him back to normal, and Roxas lost half his power before even knowing about his own existence. But the fact that he was Sora's Nobody still allowed him to wield a Keyblade, which is why the Organization made him a member." Leon scratched his head. "At least, that's what I think happened. Anyway, after Roxas and Sora met, they were reunited as one person."

_So it is true_, X thought to himself. _It is possible to return to my former self. But first, I have to find_ him…

"Hey X," Valerie piped up. "Let's not forget why we came here. We need to get into town before nightfall and get some more supplies."

"Ah, right," X responded. "Excuse us for a bit, if you all would. Which way is it to your Item Shops?"

"Just head west when you leave here," Leon said as he pointed. "Just watch out for Heartless. They've been more aggressive than normal lately."

X smirked. "Ain't a Heartless yet that I ain't been able to take down." He looked at Valerie. "Wanna do a quick Scan to see what we can expect out there?"

"Sure!" Valerie picked up her staff, pointed towards the rest, placed her hand in front of her face, two fingers extended while the rest were balled into a fist, and focused her energies. "Scan!" she cried out the Spell, the energy orb on the end of her staff glowing a bright tan-like color.

She was silent for a moment, as the Spell sorted out in her mind. "…I sense a lot of Level 4's. Look to be more Large Bodies. Other than that, just a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers."

"Pheh…not much of a threat."

Valerie frowned. "At least leave a couple for me. If I don't get much practice fighting Heartless, I won't be any help to you at all."

X looked at her in a way that made Reno think it was meant to mimic concern. "Just don't end up like me," was his simple reply.

"I'll be fine!" she replied with a small whine of annoyance. "I know you promised to protect me, but you didn't mention you'd be _over_protective."

At those words, everyone in the room looked directly at X, all with the same thought in their minds – a Nobody promised to protect someone who has a Heart?

As if reading their minds, X stated, "It's a long, uncomfortable story." No one bothered to press the topic further.

As X grabbed his Keyblade, Leon finally decided to ask a question he'd been wandering since they met. "Hey, X. What kinda Keyblade is that, anyway?"

The normal design for a Keyblade is a long silver blade connected to a yellow handle, the entirety of it shaped like a large key. However, there are numerous styles of Keyblades, and X owned the most unique Leon had ever seen. It was a complex mix of white and black pattern, with four moon crests making upthe handle, two black and two white. The tip was also rather different – instead of the typical 3-piece extension relative to normal Keyblades, this one seemed to have six; three a bright white and slightly rounded, the others pitch black and pointy, and the colors were alternated in a semi-poetic design.

"Oh, my Destiny Seeker?"

"Pardon?"

"Destiny Seeker. That's the name of my Keyblade." X began to look over the Keyblade, as if he'd only noticed it for the first time. "As to what 'kind' of Keyblade it is, well…if there are types, I reckon it'd be a Twilight based Keyblade. Light and Darkness combined."

Leon walked over and looked a little closer at it. He felt a strange aura from the blade – a mix of Darkness and Light, as X had mentioned. It made him shudder, yet relax, at the same time. He'd never felt anything like it before.

"Yo, V," X said, bringing Leon out of his semi-trancelike state. "We best get going. Those supplies aren't going to buy themselves."

"Coming!" she chimed happily, grabbing her staff again and running out the door without hesitation. X took two steps behind her, then turned back to the door and said to everyone else, "If we're not back in a couple hours, consider us gone hunting."

As he closed the door behind him, not a soul understood what he meant by "gone hunting."

* * * * *

As they were headed to town, sure enough little patches of Heartless appeared in their path here or there. But X's Keyblade made swift work of most of them, making sure to leave a few for Valerie as she requested earlier. As he looked on, X realized she had more potential for defending herself than he often gave her credit for, and decided maybe she was able to hold her own in a more serious fight.

When they finally reached town, they were surprised to see that it wasn't as dead as they expected – on the contrary, the hustling and bustling made it seem as though there were absolutely no Heartless outside the town walls. But upon closer inspection, X noticed practically everyone was carrying some form of a weapon to defend against the Heartless one way or another, so it began to make more sense to him. They were accustomed to the constant threat of the Heartless, but refused to allow it to severely affect their daily lives.

As could be expected, though, this meant the Weapons Shop was completely sold out of weapons to fight with. Luckily, the local Food and Item Shops were plenty stocked, so they managed to gain plenty of supplies for nourishment and first-aid purposes. Fighting the Heartless had actually allowed them to acquire weird and rare items like Orichalcum and Mythril to sell or trade for these things. _Funny how the Heartless seem to find things of value for us_, X thought to himself with a smirk.

As they were about to head back, Reno and Rude appeared on the scene, and out of breath. Apparently they ran as fast as they could to find them.

"X...," Reno gasped, "Hurry…Heartless…under attack…Aerith…and the others…"

X didn't waste a moment. He told Reno and Rude to wait there with the supplies he and Valerie had gathered, nodded to her, and they ran back to Aerith's house. As they ran, X turned to Valerie. "Hey, can ya Scan what's out there?"

"Sure!" she replied, pointing her staff. "Scan!" she cried, and then focused on the data being transferred to her.

All of a sudden, Valerie stopped dead in her tracks. X skidded to a halt, turned around and said, "Hey, what's the hold up?" Then he noticed – her face was pale as a sheet. X knew something was wrong. "V, what's out there?"

"X…it…it…" she stuttered, at a loss of words.

X calmly walked over to her, gently grabbed her shoulders, and shook her out of her trance. "V, what's out there?"

Valerie took a deep breath. "It's a horde of Level 6's. Defenders and Wizards. About a dozen of them, if not more. And…"

"And?"

"And a Level X." She looked up at him. "He's here."


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4**_

Aerith tried to get up, but her strength failed her, and she collapsed from exhaustion. Leon, too, could barely hold his stance, his clothes burned to shreds from constant Fire Spells. He moved in front of Aerith, guarding her from the Defenders in front of them, not to mention a weird Heartless that slightly reminded him of someone…

"Yuffie!" he called, as the young ninja was trying to fight a few Wizards. "Are you alright?"

"Unh! Don't worry about me!" came her reply. "Just get Aerith out of here, she's vulnerable! AIE!" she yelped as a Fire Spell struck her, sending her flopping onto her back.

"Yuffie!" Leon called, but a Blizzard Spell whizzed just past his left shoulder. He quickly went back on guard as a Fire Spell came from another Defender. He barely had the strength to deflect it. _Damnit, why did it have to be Defenders? If we don't get help soon…_

Yuffie crawled backwards as best as she could until she was cornered by the Wizards. One casted a Thunder Spell at her, but she managed to block with her shuriken. But she too had grown weary, and wouldn't hold out much longer.

"Face it," came a voice from the strange Heartless that was ordering the Defenders and Wizards, "your strength cannot save you. Forfeit yourselves to the darkness. I promise you, it doesn't hurt," it added with a sneer.

As a Defender prepared to blast Leon with another Fire Spell, a sudden strike from behind made it vanish. In its place stood X, looking down at Leon. "You three alright?"

Leon uneasily got up onto his feet. "Ye—yeah," he stammered. As this was going on, Valerie made quick work of the two Wizards attacking Yuffie. Leon then pointed towards the strange Heartless. "What…what the hell is that thing?"

Before X could respond, the strange Heartless vanished, leaving behind the last half a dozen Defenders and four Wizards. "NO!" X exclaimed, his hand outstretched and taking two steps towards where the Heartless was, but immediately leaping into the air to dodge a Blizzard Spell from one of the Defenders.

As X prepared for battle, several more Defenders and Wizards appeared straight out of thin air. "Damnit…I haven't had time to recover from my last Final Destiny," he barked at Valerie.

Valerie nodded, apparently understanding what X wanted. She then turned her staff upright, slammed the end of it straight into the ground, and summoned up all her magical strength. "STOP!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, and the orb on her staff shone a brilliant dark blue. Suddenly, every Heartless had frozen stiff – she locked them all in a temporary Time Warp.

"Leon! Grab Aerith and let's go before that wears off!" X yelled, as he rushed to Yuffie's side and hoisted her over his shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Leon responded, quickly scooping up Aerith and dashing in X's direction.

"H-Hey!" Yuffie protested. "Put me down, I can ruuuuuuuuuuun!" she screamed as X began to dash with so intense a speed, it almost left Valerie and Leon behind.

* * * * *

After making sure they got away, X and the others stopped to catch their breaths. Valerie and Aerith begin casting healing Spells on the group, while X stood guard to make sure their pursuers didn't catch them off guard.

"'Didn't feel like wasting my time'", Valerie said mockingly to X.

"Hey, how was I to know he'd show up with all those Defenders and Wizards?" X spat at her.

"Why do you think I always tell you to save it for emergencies?!"

"Since when do we ever have emergencies?"

"WERE YOU NOT CONSCIOUS TEN MINUTES AGO??!"

"Hey, guys!" Leon squawked, shutting them both up for a moment. "Look, if we fight each other, it won't get us anywhere. If anything, it'll just attract the Heartless. So chill!"

Valerie sighed, while X turned back around and continued to keep lookout. Aerith finished tending to Yuffie's wounds, and the young ninja stood up and stretched, apparently checking to make sure the extent of her damages were truly healed.

"So, when did those Heartless show up?" X asked, looking toward Leon.

"Not long after you left," he replied. "It was strange. Reno and Rude were thinking of walking to town to check on you and Valerie, next thing they know the whole damn building got surrounded by Defenders and Wizards, not to mention that weird Heartless that seemed to be their leader."

"Someone mention us?"

Everyone looked to see Reno and Rude walking up, both trying to act casual but clearly out of breath. Reno's red hair was slightly untidy on his brow, and Rude's bald head seemed to shine from the sweat beads.

"Hey guys. So how'd you two managed to get to the town anyway? We saw several Defenders chase after you while you ditched us."

"Well, we managed to---HEY, WE DIDN'T DITCH YOU! WE WENT FOR HELP!" Reno exclaimed.

Leon laughed and waved his hand at him. "I was only kidding, chill. Now, you were saying?"

"Right. We managed to pull a fast one on them while we were on the move. Rude happened to pull out one of his custom bombs, and well…the rest is self-explanatory." Reno smiled wide.

"You chucked it behind you and got lucky enough to get it behind their shields?" Leon asked Reno, but looked at Rude for clarification.

Rude nodded his head before Reno could object to this accusation. Reno then just hung his head in embarrassment.

Rude spoke up, "So Leon, what happened when X arrived?"

"Well, he managed to get rid of a few Defenders while Valerie took on some Wizards, but they kept multiplying so Valerie had to cast a Stop Spell so we could escape."

Yuffie stretched again, yawning loudly and interrupting Rude and Leon. "Well, while we're on the topic," she said, looking towards X, "maybe you can tell us about that strange looking Heartless that ran away from you?"

Aerith looked at Yuffie. "What do you mean?"

Yuffie put her finger under her nose and scratched. "Oh, c'mon! You can't tell me you didn't see that thing look at X and high-tail it outta here! Something's fishy here."

"Well?" Leon spoke up, staring X down.

X was silent, until Valerie tugged on his arm. "Oh, c'mon…they're our friends, we can trust them with the answer!"

X looked at her. "You know that's supposed to be between only you, me and the King."

"But these guys seem to know someone who came back from being Heartless. Surely they can help us out!"

_So is that Heartless a friend of theirs?_ Leon wondered, not alone on this train of thought. Then it clicked for him – _Wait, that Heartless reminded me of him…could it be?_

X was silent for a second, then he looked directly into her face. "So you think they can help us?"

She closed her eyes and smiled brightly. "I'm positive!"

X closed his eyes, bowed his head and sighed. "Alright, if you all must know," he said, turning to face them, "that was my Heartless."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5**_

Four Months Earlier…

The sun was shining brightly, and a few clouds drifted lazily through the skies. A young boy, no older than seventeen, was laying lazily in his backyard, lightly napping under the warmth of the sun and the gentleness of the breeze. His brown hair was a little untidy from lack of brushing, and his eyes, with a sympathetic brown color to the irises, were closed tightly. He wore a plain white T-shirt and a pair of tan denim shorts, and currently was in sandals instead of his typical tennis shoes.

He felt something tickling his nose and reached up to scratch it, when *plop* -- his hand had been sabotaged with whipped cream, and it now covered his face.

"Ptui! Ack!" he sputtered, attempting to wipe his face clean, when he heard giggling behind him. He turned around to see a flurry of blonde hair rushing away. "Hey! Not funny, Valerie!"

Valerie turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, laughing. "Hehe, sorry about that, ------, but you're so boring when you sleep!"

He managed to get enough whip cream together to make for a decent handful, and stood up looking at her. "Yeah? Well, let's see how boring it is when you have the face full of cream, V!" He rushed off after her, but since she already had a head start, he wasn't able to catch up with her before running out of breath.

They went to wash up a bit (he still had a little whip cream in his ears), then went to the local shop for some ice cream, but not before Valerie promised no funny business.

As they were walking along and eating their ice cream, the sun was starting to set. He glanced over at her as she admired it, noticing how the lighting made her even prettier than normal.

_Geez,_ he thought, _I just can't get over how amazing she can be sometimes._ He'd had a crush on her for ages, but was never once courageous enough to ask her out. They were best of friends, always seen together. He figured, why risk ruining it?

"Hey, X," Valerie called him his nickname she'd given him well over a year ago.

"Yeah?"

"What say we head out to the beach tomorrow? The weather has been perfect for days, we really shouldn't let it go to waste." She looked at him and smiled brightly.

X tried to refrain from blushing. "S-Sure. That'd be awesome!" He felt something sticky on his hand and looked at his cone – the ice cream had halfway melted because of his neglect. He reached into his pocket with his other hand to get some napkins he'd grabbed while they were at the shop.

She smiled at him, then went back to finishing her ice cream. But before she could take another bite, she stopped, her eyes widened in horror. X looked directly ahead to see why she was scared, and saw a large dark blob growing out of the ground.

"W-W-What is that?!" she screamed as the dark object grew larger and larger, soon surpassing the rooftops of the buildings surrounding them. It also began to take shape – it grew arms, with long menacing claws; formed a head with eerie yellow eyes and snakelike hair; and its chest opened into what looked like a huge heart-shaped hole, allowing X to see clear through to the trees behind this hideous monster.

Valerie took a step back, but that seemed to be all she could manage. She was frozen in fear as the creature stared directly at the two of them. It let out a thunderous roar and lashed out at them. X grabbed Valerie's hand and quickly pulled her out of the way, and the two landed on the ground just under its swing.

X looked up at the creature, terrified at its size and ferocity, but angered at its outlandishness to attack them without reason. "You wanna mess with us, tough guy?" he yelled at it, getting to his feet and standing in front of Valerie.

"X, don't!" she cried out at him. "You'll make it angry!"

"You're worried about _that_ thing getting angry?" he said back without taking his eyes off the creature, in case it tried another attack. "It tried to harm you. If anything, it should be worried about _me_ being angry. I'm not letting this thing get near you again. I promise, Valerie, no matter what, I will protect you!"

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a strange weapon appeared in X's right hand. It startled him that it appeared magically, and he took his eyes off his opponent to look the object over. It was clearly as long and sharp as any sword X had ever seen, but it was shaped in a weird fashion – it reminded him of a key. It was patterned in white and black, with moon crescents at the handle, and the tip had six extensions that were a pattern of sharp, pointy black and rounded, brilliant white – the detail that made it look so much like a key.

In the instant he looked at the weapon, the giant creature roared and once more lunged forward at them. X reacted instantly and held the Keyblade up to defend himself from the attack. The beast's hand clashed with the Keyblade, and a white energy emitted from the weapon to deflect the attacker. The large creature reared back, roaring in agony as it held its injured hand.

"H-Hey!" X cried out excitedly. "Look, Valerie! It's hurt from this weird weapon!" He decided to further see what he could do with the Keyblade, and charged at the enemy.

"Wait, X! No!" Valerie cried out, but it was too late – before either of them knew what was happening, X had come within striking range of the creature, who was extremely enraged that it was injured by X. The creature struck out with its other hand, and plummeted it into the ground all around X, trapping him in a darkened vortex.

"------!" Valerie cried out, then noticed her voice was dormant – she attempted to say his name but it never escaped her lips. _What's wrong with me? I can't even say X's true name?!_

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in the vortex, X was half unconscious as the darkness surrounding him probed at his very being. His mind, his heart, his very soul, were all becoming infected with darkness, and there was no way out of it.

_W-What's…happening?_ he thought to himself weakly, as he felt a strange tugging at his chest, as though something was trying to pull his heart out of him. _I…I feel so…so helpless…_

His mind began to whirl, his mental eye seeing flashes of his life – his school and friends; his parents and family; Valerie…

At this point, his mind became more focused. _Valerie…she's alone…defenseless against…against this beast…_ Soon, his inner will began to surface, the incessant tugging at his chest still pressuring him, as though telling him it's all over. _No…I can't…I can't break my promise…I won't!_ "I won't!" His last thought coming from his mouth acted as a catalyst to what happened next, again so sudden he almost missed it himself – the darkness around him vanished; the tugging at his chest was extinguished; and suddenly, he found himself back on the scene of the battle, between the large creature and Valerie.

"X!" Valerie exclaimed, at first surprised and gleeful he'd come back. But then, she noticed he was different. Completely different. "X?"

X no longer had the same untidy brown hair, but instead now it was shorter, and spiked as though his head was covered in miniature shark fins. His eyes, normally glowing with energy, were dull as if the light inside had been turned out. His T-shirt and denim shorts were replaced with a long, black robe down to his ankles, and a hood that was currently folded down. His right hand held the only thing that didn't transform after X had been revealed from the darkness – the strange Keyblade that he was using before.

X turned towards the creature, positioning the Keyblade to strike. "Alright, tough guy," he said, his voice slightly altered as well; it sounded more reckless. "Looks like time for round two."

With amazing speed that Valerie had never seen before, X lunged at the creature's previously uninjured arm – the arm that had changed X – and sliced it clean through with the Keyblade. The creature roared in agony and rage, then turned at X. It lifted its other arm, and plunged it into the ground, creating a darkened pit similar to what X was previously entrapped in. The next moment, small, black, jittery creatures began to arise from the darkness. The creatures had antennae growing from their heads, and the only things on their entire bodies that weren't black were two beady, soulless yellow eyes. Without hesitation, the creatures made their way towards X, some of them crawling along the ground, while others merged themselves with the very earth and traveled in a shadow to reach their foe.

Once they were too close for X's comfort, he began to slice at them with the Keyblade. The creatures were numerous, but they were weak – one swing from X's Keyblade was more than enough to take out three at once! But their numbers kept growing, as the gigantic creature continued to energize the dark portal they crept out of.

After a few minutes, X began to smirk. "This is nothing. All you guys are doing is giving me a warm-up exercise!" He finally grew tired of tossing the little creatures to the side, and began to focus on the big one – he lunged forward past the mini-minions and once more severed the creatures arm from its body.

As the creature reared back from this latest injury, its eyes began to glow a much brighter yellow than normal. Before X could determine the reason behind this reaction, the monster unleashed an energy beam, aimed directly at X.

"Damn!" He cursed as he held up the Keyblade to deflect the laser. He just barely managed to get the Keyblade up in time. As the creature prepared for another attack, X took the chance to make one more attack – instinctively, he leaped towards the monster's head, and something inside him seemed to make him cry out, "Final Destiny!"

Not knowing what he had done, X watched as his Keyblade unleashed a massive energy field around himself and the demonic entity, blinding Valerie to the point where she had to cover her eyes. Meanwhile, the creature cried out one final roar as it disappeared, devastated by the extreme energy from the Keyblade.

As the power died off, and X gently floated to the ground, numerous questions began to arise in his mind – how had he managed to use this excessive power? How had the creature come to be in the first place? And how come he was completely transformed during the fight?

"X!"

X looked up and saw Valerie, tears forming at her eyes, as she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. "Oh my gosh! Are you alright? Did that thing hurt you? What happened to you out there?!" She then began to break down and cry – she'd never been through anything so terrifying in her life.

X put his hand on her, attempting to comfort her. But strangely, he didn't feel any emotions at all – no anger that they were attacked; no fear at his own well-being; not even an ounce of caring for Valerie in her time of need. _What's wrong with me?_ he pondered. _Is this something like shellshock?_

"X!" she cried out, looking up at him, tear stains on her cheeks. "Talk to me! Are you okay?"

"I…I dunno, V," X replied, patting her back absentmindedly. "I just don't know…"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6**_

A few days had past since the incident with the strange creature, and X was still acting different – he didn't feel any sort of emotions at all. His family, friends, and especially Valerie, were all concerned for him. The strangest thing was, he didn't even feel the need to care that they were so worried.

A week had passed, and X and Valerie were walking along the beach. Valerie was trying to get X to enjoy the scenery – the pelicans were out trying to catch fish; families were playing volleyball or swimming in the ocean; the waves were up high enough that the locals were even surfing for the first time in three years. But nothing got X do to more than a mere smirk. _What did that thing do to him?_ she thought, thoroughly troubled that X wasn't enjoying himself.

Suddenly, there were screams of terror coming from up ahead. X and Valerie looked – more of those miniature dark creatures had appeared, and were terrorizing the civilians on the beach.

X felt a sudden burst of energy from his right hand, and looked down – the strange Keyblade had once again appeared, as if on his very whim. He smirked, then lunged forward. Valerie reached forward trying to grab his cloak, but missed. "Hey! Wait!" she cried.

But X was already upon the creatures and began combat. As the bystanders scattered to get away, X interfered with the dark creatures trying to attack them and easily took them out with his Keyblade. Within a few minutes, he cleared the beach of the creatures, and the weird Keyblade vanished into midair.

As X straightened his cloak out, he noticed everyone was looking at him with a weird, even terrified look. He turned to face them. "What? Never seen a hero before?" he smirked.

The people began to clap and cheer for him, thankful that he saved them, but he just turned around and went back to Valerie, who looked absolutely furious.

"What were you thinking?" she demanded when he came up alongside her. "You coulda been hurt again, just like that big one did to you!"

He turned and stared at her with a face she'd never seen him use before – at least, not at her. He looked completely arrogant. "Hey, I just saved their skins. Besides, those creatures were the same ones that big thing let out, I knew they were too pathetic to hurt the likes of me." He then began walking the opposite direction, away from her.

She stood there for a moment, trying to take in what had just happened. _X has never treated me like that before. Nor has he ever been so reckless. I don't like this…_ She then ran off to catch up with him.

As they were walking down the local trail, she kept asking him questions, trying to figure out what might be wrong with him. "Didn't anything strange happen to you while that thing had you encased in its hand?"

X shrugged. "Well, I felt like darkness was swallowing me, but I fought my way out when I remembered—" Suddenly he stopped. _When I remembered Valerie, I escaped that darkness, _he thought to himself, leaving Valerie looking at him for an answer_. I remembered that I promised to protect her. I didn't want that thing to hurt her. But ever since that creature attacked, I've been completely devoid of concern for her well-being…or anyone else's. Something did happen to me back there, but what?_

"Remembered what?" Valerie inquired, turning around and facing him as he stood still, apparently lost in thought.

He shook his head, as though coming out of a trance, and looked at her. "When I remembered I had promised you I wouldn't let anything happen to you," he replied non-chalantly.

"Oh…" Valerie said, again at a loss for words. _I remember that…he said no matter what, he'd protect me. Is that why…?_

"Look out!" X yelled, pulling her to the side as a fireball from nowhere streaked by them. X looked in the direction the fireball came from, and saw yet another weird creature – it was large, with a blue shield as big in diameter as X, and a black, dog-like face in the middle of the shield. The creature behind it seemed to have small, beady yellow eyes, a large mouth, and wore some sort of blue armor that clanked as it moved. As X stood up, two more of this weird monster appeared alongside it. X began to get annoyed. "Great…more strange monsters? What in blazes is going on here?" He leapt aside as another ball, this time made of ice, flew past him. It hit a tree that was in its path, and the entire thing was encased in ice.

"V!" X barked, turning around for a split second to look at her. "Run! I'll deal with these things!" As Valerie ran off the trail to hide nearby behind a group of trees, X sent the surge of energy into his right hand to bring forth the Keyblade, and went forward to strike down the new monsters.

However, unlike the previous creatures that were so feeble that a single strike of the Keyblade could take down three or four at once, these creatures were excruciatingly tough – the Keyblade didn't even dent their enormous shields! After several vain efforts, X was forced backwards as the three charged him at once with their shields.

"Damn, these things are worse than the other creatures!" He stated, as he regained his composure from their last attack. "Well, I guess I'll try that attack again." He sprung forward, and struck out with the Keyblade. "Final Destiny!" he cried, and once more the Keyblade unleashed a massive white energy force against the enemies.

X smirked, as the dust encircled him and what used to be his foes. "That takes care of that," he said, allowing the Keyblade to vanish again. He then turned around and called out, "Hey! V! It's safe now, they're gone!"

Suddenly, a mixture of chilling ice and burning flames hit the square of X's back, causing him to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. He turned and looked – the dust had settled, and all three of the monsters still stood, their shields not even scarred!

"What the hell? That was my strongest attack!" he spat, attempting to get to his feet, when another fireball caught him in the side, sending him hurling across the ground.

"X!" Valerie cried out, then ducked behind the tree as one of the monsters sent an iceball her way. She watched in horror as once again the attack covered the entire tree in thick ice.

X struggled to get up, his side and back searing in pain. "Unh…V…just run! Get away from here!" He got up to his knees, the Keyblade once more emerged from his hand, and he sat there in a defensive position, knowing there was nothing he could do – these monsters had him right where they wanted him.

However, several blasts of energy came from nowhere and struck the shielded beasts from behind, their only vulnerable spot. The one on the left was hit by a gigantic bolt of lightning and annihilated; the one on the right was caught by an iceball – similar to what it kept shooting at X and Valerie – and was sent flying; the middle creature was enshrouded with fire, and burned until it vanished.

X turned and looked where the attacks came from, and saw a rather strange group of characters – one was a white duck in what looked to be a mage looking outfit and held a staff; one was a tall dog-like figure, dressed in green with a goofy-looking hat and a shield; the third was a black mouse with a bright tan face, and dressed in a black outfit with a silver design up the middle, and was holding another Keyblade, but different from what X held – it was silver, with a yellow handle, and was basically shaped moreso to resemble a key than X's blade.

"Gosh, are you two alright?" the mouse asked in a high pitched voice. X shook his head and thought he must have been hit harder than he thought – a giant talking mouse?

"Your Majesty, look!" said the duck, in a scratchy voice that was difficult to make out. "There's still one left! My Blizzard Spell wasn't strong enough!"

"Don't worry, Donald," said the tall dog, with a voice that sounded slightly as though he was talking with a mouthful, "I'll take care of that one." Then he flung his shield out, clearly missing the monster by several good feet. However, the shield began a boomerang effect, and when it came back, sliced clear through the monster from the backside, and back into the dog's hand.

"Aha! Good job, Goofy!" the mouse laughed. Now X was even more certain he wasn't seeing things properly – All three of them talk? And the mouse is some sort of king?

As the new characters walked over to X, he let the Keyblade vanish. He wasn't sure of much, but he knew one thing – these guys weren't enemies. "Thanks for the help," he said, attempting to muster up gratitude in his voice, but with his strange condition, he realized there wasn't really any at all.

"Sure. Are you two alright?" the mouse inquired, his Keyblade also vanishing.

"I'm a little banged up, but I think I'll live," X responded, grimacing at his wounds as he tried to walk.

"Here," said Donald, "let me help." He held the staff pointed in the air and yelled, "Cure!" The staff glowed, and suddenly, all of X's wounds sealed up and vanished. He looked himself over, amazed – he felt as if he just had the best massage of his life!

"Whoa…What'd you do to me? That was great!"

Donald closed his eyes and held his beak high. "Hah! It was nothing for a master mage like myself!"

Meanwhile, the one called Goofy looked towards Valerie. "Hey, kiddo! A-hyuk! What about you?" He waved at her, encouraging her to come out.

Valerie hesitated, but since she saw what they had done for X, she figured it must be safe, and cautiously walked out from behind the trees to meet their new friends.

"So, might we all do introductions?" X asked. "Name's ------." He stopped for a second, remembering no one was ever able to say his name despite their best efforts. "Err…I mean, my name is X."

"I'm Goofy," he responded, forcefully shaking X's hand enthusiastically. "And this here is Donald Duck, and his Majesty, King Mickey."

* * * * *

"After we all met, the King told me about what happened to me, while Donald helped V train to become a mage herself, and Goofy ordered us another Gummi Ship that we could use to travel the worlds and attempt to get my Heart back. And that's the story," X finished as Aerith and the others sat attentively, completely surprised at what they had just heard.

"So, you were attacked by a Darkside, massacred a complete infestation of Shadows on the beach, and then was aided by the King in annihilating a trio of Defenders?" Reno asked. "And all the time you didn't know that you were turned into a Nobody?"

"That pretty much sums it up, redhead," X replied, slightly annoyed.

Before Reno could retort, Leon butted in. "But that doesn't explain why you – or anyone else, for that matter – can't say your true name. Typically, if a Nobody gets a name, it's a remix of their old name with the letter X included. A friend of ours, Cid, discovered this after some extensive studies of the Nobodies from the Organization."

"Well, we're still trying to figure that out ourselves," X responded. "Even the King didn't have a clue. He heard a similar story from someone about Nobodies stealing some photograph, and for awhile, no one could say the word 'photograph' either, but no one ever researched the problem thoroughly enough to understand why it happened."

Leon sat back against the tree trunk, scratching at his chin. "Well, it seems whatever name you used to have belongs to that Heartless of yours, and it's no help that you can't even name it to get more help in locating it."

"Well, it can't escape us too easily. It needs what the King called a 'pathway between the worlds.' That's why he had Goofy get us that ship – to follow, and hopefully, catch him."

Yuffie jumped up. "Right then! Let's get going, guys!"

Everyone looked at Yuffie in a funny way. Aerith spoke up. "What're you talking about, Yuffie?"

Yuffie placed her finger under her nose and smiled – a weird stance to take in front of your friends. "Well, we know that rascal is here in Radiant Garden, and he was at Aerith's house with those nasty Defenders and Wizards. One way or another, we have to go back to reclaim your home, Aerith!"

Leon stood up, too. "She's right," he said, looking around. "We ran away because we were ambushed and didn't have a fighting chance. Well, we're re-energized thanks to Valerie, and we've had enough time to catch our breath." He pulled his sword out from its sheath. "I say we go back and take those Heartless out, and find X's Heart."

Everyone cheered in agreement, except X. He stood there with a weird look on his face, as if there was something he was trying to figure out. Reno looked his way and noticed the facial expression, and asked, "What's wrong, big guy? Isn't this what you and Valerie were after this whole time?"

"Well," X replied, as everyone looked his way. "There's just one problem I'm seeing here. Sora came back from a Heartless, and Roxas reunited with Sora. But Sora came back because his Heart was connected to Kairi, a Princess of Light." X turned to Valerie. "Mine, however, is not."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Chapter 7**_

"Once you've had your fill, return to me," said the Heartless that belonged to X to the many Defenders and Wizards.

With gleeful grunts, the Defenders and Wizards began to pillage the town. People panicked, screams were heard throughout, and one could see new Heartless appear at random places throughout the streets, where people were unfortunate enough to have their Hearts captured.

"Yet another glorious day to hunt down some Hearts," said the Heartless as he had a pair of Defenders stand by him as bodyguards. "At this rate, opening the gate to Kingdom Hearts once more will be a piece of cake." He grinned maliciously. "Then, the real fun begins."

* * * * *

"Hurry boys!" shouted an aged duck in a top hat, as he and three ducklings ran down an alley, trying to escape from a pair of Wizards chasing after them. "If we don't get outta here, our gooses are cooked!"

"Uncle Scrooge!" screamed one of the ducklings, in a red cap and shirt, as he tripped on a rock and landed with a thud on the ground. The Wizards were immediately on top of him.

"Blow me bagpipes! Huey!" Scrooge McDuck exclaimed, feeling helpless that he could do nothing to save one of his precious nephews.

However, Huey's brothers weren't about to let him lose his Heart that easy. They pulled out a slingshot and a gigantic marble apiece and took aim. "FIRE!" said the one in the blue cap and shirt, and they both hit their marks – both Wizards were caught between their beady eyes with the marbles, and as they reeled back in pain, Huey got away.

"Great job, Dewey and Louie!" Scrooge praised the young ones as they checked their brother, and all four wasted no time in spacing the gap between them and the raged monsters.

However, their glee was short-lived – at the end of the alleyway, four Defenders turned the corner. Scrooge and his nephews all skidded to a halt – they were trapped!

"U-u-u-uncle Scrooge!" young Louie stuttered, hiding behind his uncle while facing the Wizards slowly closing in on them.

Scrooge's fear turned into anger. "Well, boys. If we go down, at least show 'em what a McDuck can do." He grabbed his cane, held it as though it were a sword, and tried to put on a menacing face as he stared down the Defenders.

The boys nodded at each other and aimed with their slingshots. "Right, Uncle Scrooge!" they called out in unison.

The Defenders chuckled at the sight of an aged duck trying to fight with a simple stick. Then the two in the front charged up their shields for a Fire attack combination, and aimed straight at McDuck. Then, the Spells were cast!

As Scrooge flinched, Leon swept in from the rooftop and sliced at the Fire Spells, vanquishing them instantly. "I'm sorry, but fried duck isn't on today's menu."

"Leon!" the boys yelped happily. The next moment, Aerith obliterated both Wizards with a Holy Spell from behind, and Yuffie too launched a sneak attack on the Defenders, slicing them all apart with her enormous shuriken.

As she caught her blade from the air and shouldered it, she smiled at Scrooge and his nephews. "The legendary ninja of Wutai is here now, boys. You're in good hands."

"Yuffie! Leon! Aerith! Thank my piggy banks you're all here!" Scrooge leaped in the air cheerfully, expressing his deepest gratitude at their saviors.

Meanwhile, X, Reno, Rude and Valerie aided other citizens throughout the town, and slowly the numbers of the Heartless diminished. X's Heartless was becoming annoyed. "I hate party crashers…" he grumbled as he turned to leave.

A Fire Spell sizzled past his ear.

"Hold it, pal."

Valerie, staff pointed outward and smoking at the tip, glared at the Heartless of her best friend. "You're not leaving just yet, now that we finally found you." X landed beside her, with a look on his face that almost made him seem happy to have finally found the darkness he was looking for. "You've caused us a lot of grief lately," he stated.

"Oh really?" his Heartless retorted, turning to face them. "I thought a Nobody couldn't feel grief…or any other emotion, for that matter."

X raised his Keyblade, and readied himself for combat. "Enough small talk. You're coming back with us, and eventually, returning to my body."

"Is that what you have planned for little old me?" his Heartless responded with a tone that sounded like an attempt at innocence. "I apologize, 'X', but I simply can't afford to waste anymore time with you two. I have plans of my own, you see."

"Well that's too damn BAD!" he burst out towards the Heartless, and brought his Keyblade to strike him.

The Heartless, with reflexes that surprised even X, not only dodged the Keyblade, but grabbed X's arm, kicked the Key out of his hand, then proceeded to toss X into a building nearby.

X grunted at the impact, but before he could stand, his Heartless rammed into him, plunging deeper into the hole his body made in the building. Then, the Heartless grabbed the neck of X's robe, tossed X into the air, leaped up to meet him in the air, and landed an extremely hard kick in X's sternum, sending him flying back down to the ground with such force that X created a crevice where his body grounded and skidded across the earth. As X came to a stop, the Keyblade landed, the blade sticking into the ground an inch from his left ear.

_Ugh…Damnit! What power…_ X thought to himself, feeling as though his ribs were shattered. He groaned in pain, then grabbed his Keyblade in an attempt to steady himself as he stood.

His Heartless gently landed on the ground in front of him, arms crossed. "Well, now. That looks like it hurt."

"SHUT UP!" X lunged forward, Keyblade coming around, but his Heartless stopped him with two fingers – one pushing into X's forehead, causing his body to stop; and one on the very Keyblade itself.

X's reaction of surprise made his Heartless chuckle lightly. "Are you sure you want to continue trying to harm what you cannot even touch?" it asked calmly. Then, before X could respond, the Heartless leapt backwards into the air, back flipping twice as it soared, and landed on the rooftops.

"I'll say it again – I'm too busy to play with you kids." The Heartless waved his hand, and vanished into the darkness without a trace.

"Damnit!" X called out, then felt himself give way and collapse, his ribs agonizing.

"Hold on!" Valerie called out as she ran to him, and began using the Cure Spell on his wounds. As she healed him, Reno and Rude ran up to them.

"Oi, what was the commotion?" Reno inquired. Then he looked around. "Whoa…X, you really have to work on your temper there, buddy. We're supposed to be saving the town, not tearing it down for renovations."

X attempted to stand up to punch Reno clean into next month, but cried out in pain and went back down again. Valerie grabbed his sleeve and forced him still. "Hold still damnit! You're hurt."

X growled but did as he was told. Within a few minutes, he was able to stand again. "He got away…but this time he actually fought me…and I…" he went silent.

"We knew he was strong, X," Valerie attempted to comfort him. "We've seen the measures of his strength now. So all we need to do is get stronger, right?!" She gave a weak smile.

X looked at her. "This is no time to be smiling, V. That could have been my last chance…"

Reno walked up and put his arm on X's shoulder. "Relax, pal. You're alive, right? You'll get another chance, so long as you keep tracking him. You got this far, why stop because he whipped on your ass a little, eh?"

At first, X felt yet another urge to rearrange Reno's face, but then thought about it for a moment. _The redheaded buffoon is right. I can still find him…and I know I can get stronger before we combat again._ X looked at Valerie. "Alright. Let's make sure the town is safe, rest up for the day, and head out immediately tomorrow."

Valerie smiled and nodded, but Reno looked aghast. "Tomorrow?! You guys aren't gonna stick around?!"

X looked at him sternly. "My Heartless just traveled through one of the pathways between the worlds. What use is there of staying here?"

"Why, making new friends!" Reno exclaimed, gesturing at himself and Rude.

"…You're talking to a being that doesn't have emotions. How the hell do you think I could be 'friends' with anyone, let alone a goofball and a mime without facepaint?"

Reno stuttered, trying to think of something to say back, but Rude put his hand up in front of him, and Reno went silent. Then Rude sighed.

"Reno and I will check on Leon and the others. We'll make sure they're okay. Then, we can all meet back at Aerith's home. You're welcome to rest up there before your journey tomorrow."

X smiled. "Well thanks, tough guy. Maybe you're not so bad after all…" He then leaned in and whispered to Rude, "Though I have to wonder how the hell you put up with this guy?" pointing to Reno.

"Patience of a saint," Rude responded. X laughed while Reno looked appalled.


End file.
